A full run through of the Beethoven Piano Sonatas is definitely on the very fringe of the International Festival. I sat near a lady from Ayr who was very much doing the whole experience. For her, this was a light aperitif before the full course in the Usher Hall that evening; lunch had been at the Queen’s Hall. These concerts are definitely pitched to sit in a particular sort of day. Greyfriars is the perfect setting both for the target audience and for chamber music as it is comfortable, central and has a good acoustic for such music. Tomorrow the lady of Ayr is having tea in the Signet Library for the second time. This performance was two sonatas, Op 2 No 3 in C and the ‘Pastoral’ Op28 in D with Llyr Williams as the pianist. The first was a virtuosic piece well handled. There was an occasional tendency for the detail of some of the faster passages to get lost, particularly in the fourth movement - possibly due to slight over-pedalling, or perhaps the adoption of an extremely fast tempo where the rush of the phrases overtook the need for every note to be heard. In the second, Williams adopted a much more relaxed approach, giving more room to breathe and for the long phrases to speak. This was a much needed rest after the first sonata, though in the Presto at the end of the fourth movement, it was allowed to break free and run at full-tilt to the finishWilliams played the second sonata from sheet music - an understandable aid during such a marathon performance - which gave a feeling of security rather than impeding the performance. Where the writing didn't allow a convenient page-turn, he was still able to play up to half a page from memory until a page-turning opportunity came up. The lady from Ayr felt that the soloist looked much like Milhouse. With this sort of performance he will certainly impress Lisa Simpson.
